not so cool — it’s not an Arab town friendly to Jews. I’m glad it turned it as it did, but those musicians could just as easily been murdered.
You’d be surprised. There are Arab towns who are either neutral or openly friendly to Jews. It’s a tribal/clan thing. Luckily, this was a town of music lovers, and they had some Arabian-sounding tunes in their repertoir, which worked to break the ice. So it’s cool.